A supervisor with the Department of Health and Hospitals has been placed on administrative leave as part of an ongoing investigation, according to an agency officials.

Chief Engineer Karen Irion, who is a supervisor in the Office of Public Health, was placed on leave with pay Wednesday according to Lisa Faust with DHH.

"This was part of an investigation that is still ongoing," Faust told WBRZ, "and because of that we can't say just what the nature of the investigation is."

The Inspector General's Office, which also has oversight for DHH, would not confirm if they were investigating the agency, citing a state statute.

According to Faust, Irion oversees water quality and sewage control for the OPH. In 2008 she was named in a wrongful termination appeal by Stacy Williams, a former sanitarian who claimed Irion made racial remarks while she was employed there and that Bobby Savoie, a former director, fired Williams because she was black. The appeal was later dismissed by the Civil Service Commission.